1996 Rose Bowl

The Northwestern Wildcats had a string of losing seasons stretching back to 1972, and had not appeared in the Rose Bowl for 47 years, a win in January 1949. The Wildcats opened the 1995 season with a surprise 17–15 win at #9 Notre Dame on September 3, 1995. That Notre Dame finished at number 6 and went to the Orange Bowl. However, Notre Dame set the record for largest drop in the rankings AP Poll in the Top-25 era when the next AP poll was released, dropping 16 spots to #25 (this record was beaten by Michigan after losing to Appalachian State during the first week of the 2007 season). The Wildcats, who were then ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 1971, fell out of the spotlight when they lost to Miami University in their next game. They won against Air Force and Indiana to get back to #25 in the polls. On October 2, the Wildcats had another win that brought them back into national attention, a 19–13 victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Wildcats won the rest of their games with a perfect 8–0 record in the Big Ten Conference. In response to the Wildcats earning a berth in the Rose Bowl, announcer Keith Jackson uttered the quote "We've had all the romance; now let's find out if she can dance."

The USC Trojans opened with six wins until losing at Notre Dame, 38–10, on October 21. On October 28, USC and Washington played what would be the deciding game for the conference at Husky Stadium. Down 21–0 in the fourth quarter, the Trojans scored three straight touchdowns, with the final coming with 33 seconds remaining. The game ended in a 21–21 tie. A Washington loss to Oregon on November 4 put USC in the lead in the Pac-10 race. Coming into the UCLA–USC rivalry game, the Trojans already had the Rose Bowl berth by virtue of more non-conference victories than Washington, even though a loss to the Bruins would leave both teams with a 6–1–1 record. The Trojans lost to the Bruins, 24–20.

• USC: S. Woods 1-yd run (Abrams kick) USC 7–0
• NU: D. Autry 3-yd run (Gowins kick) Tied 7–7

• USC: Barnum 21-yd pass from Otton (Abrams kick) 13:05 USC 14–7
• USC: Abrams 30-yd FG 3:29 USC 17–7
• USC: McCutcheon 53-yd fumble return (Abrams kick) 2:56 USC 24–7
• NU: Gowins 29-yd FG 0:02 USC 24–10

• NU: Gowins 28-yd FG 11:01 USC 24–13
• NU: D.Autry 9-yd run (conversion failed) 8:17 USC 24–19
• USC: K.Johnson 56-yd pass from Otton (Abrams kick) 6:08 USC 31–19
• NU: Schnur 1-yd run (Gowins kick) 2:58 USC 31–26

• NU: D. Autry 2-yd run (conversion failed) 13:01 NU 32–31
• USC: Abrams 46-yd FG 9:09 USC 34–32
• USC: Washington 2-yd run (Abrams kick) 3:00 USC 41–32